Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com FEBRUARY 2020 9 UNDER THE DOME 2 Former Notre Dame players named to ESPN's 50-man all-time col- lege football roster to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the sport: all-purpose player Tim Brown and offensive guard AARON TAYLOR were both selected to the second team. There were two 25-man teams comprised of 11 on offense, 11 on defense, and then a punter, kicker and all-purpose player. Brown was the 1987 Heisman Trophy recipient as a wide receiver and return man, and later became a nine-time Pro Bowl pick. Taylor is one of 16 Irish players ever to earn two-time consensus All-America recognition, first as a guard in 1992 and then as a tackle in 1993, and he also earned the Lombardi Award as a senior. Two former Notre Dame players also made the all-time 100-man NFL Network team to commemorate the 100th year of the NFL: quarterback Joe Montana (1979-94) and defensive tackle Alan Page (1967-82). 5 Quarterbacks in the Football Bowl Subdivision since 2017 who passed for more than 2,500 yards and 30 touchdowns in the same regular sea- son, plus totaled more than 500 yards rushing: Ohio State's JT Barrett in 2017, Oklahoma Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray and Houston's D'Eriq King in 2018, and Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts and Notre Dame's Ian Book in 2019. 7 Power Five schools among the 64 in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC that Notre Dame has yet to play after facing first-time foe Iowa State in the Camp- ing World Bowl Dec. 28. The Fighting Irish have played every current foe in the ACC and Big Ten — 14 in each conference — and all 12 in the Pac-12. There are three teams it has yet to play in the 10-team Big 12: Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. There are still four teams to be played in the 14-team SEC: Arkansas (which will play at Notre Dame next Sept. 12), Auburn, Kentucky and Mississippi State. 27 Age of current Notre Dame quarterbacks coach Tom Rees, who could become the youngest coordi- nator ever for the Fighting Irish — although Terry Brennan was 25 when hired as head coach in 1954. The previ- ous youngest of recent vintage was Mike San- ford Jr., who was 33 when hired in 2015 and is cur- rently at Utah State. 144-107 Career record posted by Louis Leo "Skip" Holtz Jr., a 1987 Notre Dame alumnus, as a major college head coach at Connecticut (1994-98), East Carolina (2005-09), South Florida (2010-12) — highlighted by defeating his alma mater in the 2011 season opener — and now Louisiana Tech (2013-19). He concluded this season with a 14-0 victory over Miami in the Independence Bowl to run his record at Louisiana Tech to 56-36 after leading the Bulldogs to a 10-3 mark in 2019. He now has the third-most wins among Notre Dame alumni as a college head coach, this year surpassing College Football Hall of Fame members Charlie Bachman (137-83-24), James Phelan (137-87-14) and Frank Thomas (141-33-9). The two Notre Dame alumni with more victories than Holtz are Eddie Anderson (201-128-15) and Gus Dorais (150-70-12). Holtz's father, Lou Sr., was 249-132-7, highlighted by a 100-30-2 mark at Notre Dame from 1986-96 that featured the 1988 national title. 188 Point differential (296-108) during Notre Dame's 7-0 finish at home this season, the most since 1932, when second-year head coach Hunk Anderson's Fighting Irish were plus-198 that year in the four home games that were all shutouts against Haskell (73-0), Drake (62-0), Carnegie Tech (42-0) and Northwestern (21-0). This year seven home wins were New Mexico (66-14), Virginia (35-20), Bowling Green (52-0), USC (30-27), Vir- ginia Tech (21-20), Navy (52-20) and Boston College (40-7). $550 Limit the NCAA has on how much a bowl game can offer in gifts to each player on a team invited to its site. For Notre Dame players in the Camping World Bowl, the gift package included a $400 Best Buy gift card, a watch and a Herschel back- pack with a luggage tag. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS